Jabalpur police arrested on Friday a 42-year-old man for abducting and sexually assaulting a five-year-old minor girl. The crime took place on January 15 in Hanumantal police station area.
According to the police, the victim used to call the accused “Nanu†(maternal grandfather). The accused allegedly lured the girl with a mere five rupees and sexually assaulted her.
On the day of the incident, at around 7 PM, the girl was playing just a few metres away from her house with her friend, who happened to be the granddaughter of the accused, a familiar face in the neighbourhood.
He approached her with the promise of buying her chips and handed over Rs 5 to the little girl. He then carried her into his home under the guise of playing. Once inside, he gagged the girl with a piece of cloth to ensure she did not shout and sexually assaulted her. After the assault, he left the crying girl outside her house and escaped the scene at around 8:30 PM.
When the distressed kid returned home, she started removing her clothes. Her mother noticed that her pyjama was wet and asked her what happened. She managed to explain what the accused did to her, specifically mentioning that “Nanu took off my clothesâ€. The shocked mother immediately went to accused’s residence to confront him, but the house was locked.
On the day of the incident, the victim’s father was not at home. The next day, , when he returned, the victim’s mother informed him about the incident after which he reached the police station and filed a complaint.
Acting on the complaint, a team was formed, led by Station Officer Dheeraj Raj and Sub-Inspector Sangita Choudhary to nab the rapist. On 17th January, the police got a tip-off from an informant that the accused was seen near his house in the morning attempting to leave the city. Police swiftly swung into action and cordoned off the area where he was last seen. The accused operates a garbage truck for his livelihood.
